Wellington Regional Economic Development Agency proposal

In life it’s sometimes easy to sit still and enjoy the rewards of what you have built. But it’s often better to take on and pursue goals that might otherwise remain nothing more than pipe-dreams.

For Positively Wellington Tourism it has been a dream run since our foundation in 1997. Building on those famous words: ‘Absolutely Positively Wellington’, PWT has been often held up as the stand-out Regional Tourism Organisation in New Zealand.

We’ve successfully made Wellington into a place people love to visit. We can make it a place they’d love to live, work, learn, grow up, get excited and settle down.

Over the years there’s absolutely been plenty to be positive about. Wellington has grown into a recognised visitor destination and a favourite with domestic and international tourists. As a city we’ve successfully established and supported numerous major events, and in 2011 Lonely Planet named Wellington as #4 city in the world, dubbing us the ‘coolest little capital’.

But in recent times, while our promotion of the city and increased visitor arrivals have continued, we’ve recognised a real opportunity to make more of the platform of awareness we’ve built. The difference a new approach has made in Auckland is striking. Why wouldn’t we want to learn from their success – attracting more visitors, more events and greater prominence?

This means continuing to grow visitor numbers by delivering audacious and distinctive marketing activities, but it also means using the shop window we’ve created through our marketing as a means of attracting people to Wellington longer-term. New arrivals bring with them energy, ideas and resources, adding value to our city’s economy and making our lives as Wellingtonians better every day.

We’ve successfully made Wellington into a place people love to visit. We can make it a place they’d love to live, work, learn, grow up, get excited and settle down.

To make it happen we need to make sure, as a little city at the bottom corner of a very big world, that we use every single cent provided by every single contributor as wisely as possible. We must find the most efficient ways to leverage our investments in marketing, business development and attraction, events and venues to get more people coming to the Wellington region to do more, more often and for longer.